The Meanings of I Love You
by bookwormx10
Summary: There's different ways to say the most important three words. Sometimes they're told through a steaming cup of tea. Sometimes they're said with different syllables and letters. Sometimes there said just like that, I love you.
1. Chapter 1

Ok so I posted this on tumblr originally, but I'm thinking of writing more like this. Tell me what you think!

The door softly creaked open. The light patter of her feet made their way towards the bed. Right away she knew he was still awake. Neither of them slept much anymore.

"Hey." She whispered, nestling herself into the covers along with him.

His breath shook raspy and worn. The tension in his shoulders still evidently there. A nightmare had undeniably occurred.

"Hey." He managed to choke out almost inaudibly.

Rolling over to face her, Percy saw how close they were, how he wanted to be even closer. He hugged her frame to his, resting his chin on her silky head of hair, only it wasn't so silky anymore.

"It was just really lonely by myself." Annabeth said, not needing to elaborate, not needing to say what that statement really meant.

She felt the nod of his chin on her head. His grip tight on her, but not too tight, just the right amount of tight. The type of tight that pleaded don't leave me, but with a slight looseness that said you're always free to go.

A twinge of sadness crept up in her chest, weaving an icy thread around the strings of her heart. How did they get like this?

They were strong and brave. They faced their fears on adrenaline and planning. Recklessness and calculation.

Now they could barely hold a sideways glance at those fears.

"What was it?" She asked delicately.

His hold tightened a fraction more. It was so small it was almost indecipherable, but she knew. She always knew.

"Please." Percy said, voice cracked and raw. The one syllable a giant plea for mercy. Begging to not relieve the terrors.

"It's not good to keep it all bottled up." Annabeth looked up at him.

His eyes were clouded over and incredibly dark in the minimum light. She could hardly make out the faint swirls of emerald that signaled an oncoming storm. They'd need to get another nightlight.

He took a sharp intake of breath like the air could save him from everything. Like the air would heal the past.

"You didn't come back with me."

Nothing else was said. He stared at her with fear, desperation, and above all love.

"I'm here now. We both are."

They laid there for a while drinking in each other's warmth and security.

Together they were safe. Together they could conquer anything. They'd look full on at those fears and shoot them down fast.

"Annabeth."

The way he said her name sent shivers down her spine.

It was like he wasn't just simply saying it. He tasted it on his tongue, rolled each sound in honey, pronounced each bit as a work of the universe. Coming from him her name sounded like telling the truth, greeting someone you haven't seen in a while, and gazing at the stars on a clear country night.

"Yeah?"

Grey met green and green met grey. Their eyes weren't so broken anymore. Some of that shattered glass had been swept away.

"I love you." His voice was deep, drawing out each word so slowly, so lovely.

It wasn't the first time they told each other that, but it was the first time one of them had said it like that. Like it was a fact carved in a stone, something so tangible that it could only be true. Something so permanent it would never be broken, possibly battered, but never split.

"I think I've found something permanent." She breathed her words out in wisps, afraid they were wrong, afraid because her something permanent was something that could be so temporary.

The night encased them, filling their pores and flooding theirs veins in its peaceful quietness. The silence fell on them like a blanket tucking them into bed.

Sometimes the silence of two people together, two people that love each other so inconceivably much, speaks in greater volume than any language could ever manage.


	2. Chapter 2

His lips were hot on hers. Tingling with the heat of a thousand stars. Waiting to burst into licking flames and devour everything on sight.

Her lips were sweet, chapped with raspberry lip color. She tasted likes dreams, clouds floating away in the summertime. Her being was like an overdose on love. She was radiant in every sense.

They wanted each other. They wanted their lips together. They wanted to cling to each other and fill that starving feeling that hung low in their hearts.

His hand brushed the bottom of her back, low enough to know they had each other, but high enough to still be polite.

"Jason." Her voice was like the river rushing after the rain.

He loved the rasp it gave. The rasp that was unique to her and only her. The way the words cracked at the end and sounded like they were trying to escape all at once and were staggering to slow down.

The kissing stopped, but the feelings lingered on. They were desperate for each other, desperate to fill that hollowness they shared deep inside their souls. They were looking for someone to share their life with. A constant companion that would finally understand.

Her eyes were dancing. Greens swirled with blue and blue floated in brown. Its like the colors were trying to convey her personality, beautiful and bold, intense and savoring. They couldn't keep up with such a person, but they compensated with their aquas, with their chocolates and hazels.

Nothing could keep up with Piper. Piper was too much for anything and anyone. She was the girl with a soul and heart bigger than a mountain.

"What is it?"

Jason grew concerned with the abrupt ending that included his name. Had he done something wrong?

"I-" Her words hitched, too quickly to make the rasp.

His eyebrows furrowed and glasses slid on his nose.

"I really like you." Her forehead was pressed against his.

He laughed. A short laugh filled with the sounds of love.

"I really like you too."

She grinned. White, somewhat crooked teeth glowed at him.

Mirth wove it's way in his sky blue irises. That hollow feeling that always sunk way down lifted a little now.

They finally found something.


	3. Chapter 3

"Annabeth." He whispered desperately, saying her name the way one would take a deep breath; he took it all in slowly, automatically, bringing it to the bottom of his lungs and out again.

His voice was cracked and raw, burning with the force of a wildfire. He couldn't talk smoothly, he couldn't think clearly, he needed her.

"Percy." She closed her eyes, not daring to let the tears slip, not daring to show her hurt. Although, all thoughts of keeping her emotions inside were destroyed with the exhausted, sad sigh that escaped from her lips.

"Please, we don't have to do this. We can get through it. Together." Percy pleaded, grasping at strings that had already been cut.

She couldn't look at his eyes. She wouldn't be able to go through with it if she saw the swimming greens; the way his pupils dilated and how his irises glazed over with a wash of fresh tears.

"It's just a break. We're hurting each other more than helping." She finally got the steel back in her voice. The steel that could cut through the thickest ice and slice the deepest wounds.

That's what she was doing- slicing the binds of their relationship. But was she really? The few ties that held them together had already begun fraying, all they really needed was the gentlest breeze to fully break.

She knew she was right in ending them, if only temporarily, and Percy knew it to. They were ripping each other away from the inside out. The more they tightened their hold the deeper their nails dug into each others backs.

They were becoming too dependent, too needy. Tartarus left far more than physical scars and took away more than just innocence. They woke up in the dark, sweaty and breathless as if they'd run a marathon. A sudden noise or touch made their hands fling to each other like the strongest magnets in the world. They were set in reverse on a one way road and the only way off was to get out of the car.

They were getting out of the car, but not without obtaining a few scrapes and bruises. Many scrapes and bruises.

"W-we." Percy stopped.

He ached for Annabeth; to hold her body against his, to feel her enthralling heat and press themselves together until the only hint that they weren't one was a few blurry lines. His hand wanted to linger in her hair to play with her honey golden curls. He wished wistfully to feel the pressure of his forehead against hers, that familiar pulse that seemed to course through his own body.

But he knew.

Annabeth was right, they couldn't keep living the way they were. Not that they were living so much as surviving.

His head nodded in just the slightest. His lips were pressed tight in a thin, white line and his Adam's apple bobbed unevenly. His face pinched tight, trying to suppress the storm of oncoming emotions.

"I'll always love you." Annabeth finally let her tears fall.

They were too warm for such a miserable situation. They left too many stains on her red cheeks and told too many stories. She felt their saltiness seep into the splits of her chapped lips and felt the way they stung. They stung so badly.

"Annabeth…" There it was again; that deep breath word that seemed to be said for an eternity. That word that weakened her knees and melted her heart, but not today. Today she couldn't let that word wash over her like the spell it was.

"I've never had someone like you. I'd tear down this world for you." He said it with so much conviction and certainty that it sent a ghostly shiver down her spine.

It was so utterly terrifying to have someone love you like that. To have such a deep connection that the end of living was a better reality than living without one another.

"I know."

Their voices were all whispers, tiptoeing so carefully to not break the delicate air that laid paper thin between them.

How did they ever get this fragile?

Were they already broken?

"I guess this is goodbye then." His face lifted in a joyless, ironic smile.

"Yea, I guess so." Her words felt hollow, drained of the emotion and passion she thought they should contain.

Were all breakups this empty?

The words stayed between them as another barrier, another wall they'd have to tear down if they ever wanted to reach each other. The steel in her voice couldn't cut through these words, not this time.

"I wish it could've been different."

Hearing his voice hurt. Saying his words hurt. Everything hurt and everything was painted gray. A gray so dull and lifeless that no color or flair could survive. Their relationship could not survive. At least not yet (maybe not ever).

"Me too."

And that was it. She broke. He broke. Their tears had streamed down silently before, only showing the emotions, but not putting them through the actions.

Their sobs synchronized with each other. Their voices broke at all the same places. They clung on one another as they always had, but it was different. This would be the last time they used each others (limited) strength with their own for a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi! I wanted to say thank you for all of the fabulous and thoughtful reviews! Seriously, it means so much to know you're enjoying my writing and the way you express that just warms my heart! I hope your day goes as nicely as your reviews are!

"You need to take a break."

The red head stood in the door way, leaning against the frame. The sharp glare of sunlight shadowed her face from view though her wild curls gave off a slight, almost coppery sheen.

Rachel crossed her arms defensively over her body; her voice conveyed her iron will. She wouldn't let Annabeth work herself to death, not in the state she was currently.

The cabin was desolate except for the two. The wind outside whistled in the windows and the unseasonably chilly air crept its way to the bare arms of the blonde.

"Rachel, I found a new lead. I-I can't stop. He wouldn't for me." The last part was whispered, filled with too much hurt and sorrow to be turned into a louder volume.

Her body was slumped over her desk, exhaustion reeking from every part of her. The blonde curls fell in greasy clumps on her head in the way fall leaves leaves held to a tree- just barely hanging onto their original state.

When was the last time she showered?

"Annabeth, you working until you're just dust won't bring him back."

Rachel caught the glimpse of sadness and fresh tears brewing in her stormy gray eyes just before Annabeth turned her head the other way.

"I know." Annabeth laced her words with her overbearing emotions that were in a constant rush. "I don't think he's ever coming back."

She was hopeless, in utter despair at the lost of her best friend and boyfriend. The world wasn't a world anymore, it was a savage black hole that'd eat anything good until all that was left was everything bad. There was really no point in dragging the search out any longer, he was gone. Just like everyone else in Annabeth's life.

She laughed bitterly to herself at the thought of all those who had left. First it was her dad. Then it was Thalia and Luke, a family that loved her for who and what she was and a family she loved equally back. Percy had been the constant she needed and now he vanished.

Her laughs quickly dissolved into sobs.

Rachel was quicker than lightning in wrapping her comforting arms around her friend. She didn't mind when Annabeth stained her shirt with tears or when her runny nose left an ugly trail on the back of her sleeve.

"I miss him and he's not coming back. Why does everyone abandon me?"

Her voice was like a child's- innocent and questioning, truly wondering why this was happening to her.

Rachel realized the significance of this- Annabeth let down her pride for her. Annabeth stopped caring what Rachel thought and broke down every window, every wall and let the floodgates run their horribly long coarse. Annabeth was in so much more grief than she originally imagined.

"No one ever stays." Annabeth's voice was the sayings of a ghost, words of another world that haunted the living soul.

"I'm here. He'll be here soon, too." Rachel told the blonde, not sure herself if the words would ring true.

Neither of them left the Athena Cabin for a while.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey readers! I want to say thank you so much for your awesome reviews! Seriously, you right the best reviews that put a huge smile on my face whenever I read them. It really makes me motivated to keep writing seeing how much you like it! Hope you all are having a good day/night and an awesome week

"Annabeth, I'm sorry, but you have to understand." Thalia's voice was beyond tired, beyond exhausted, and beyond heartbroken.

Her choice to become a hunter wasn't just based on a selfish bias that Annabeth could only see. Thalia wanted to postpone the prophecy, to allow time for the demigods to prepare for the child of the prophecy.

"You left me and now you're leaving me again. We were supposed to be a family." Annabeth's words were watery and hard all at once, some savagely slit throats without remorse while the others smoothed rocks in gentle waves.

The whirlwind of words weighted on Thalia's silver tiara. They buried themselves in the seams of her silver jacket like a rabbit running for shelter from a big, ugly fox.

"Annabeth, please just listen to me. I'm not abandoning you." Her words were sincere, burning annoyance into Annabeth.

The blonde's posture straightened as if her spine had been replaced by a ruler. Her skin prickled with rigid goosebumps, brought forth by her oddly sudden serene anger. Her gray eyes soaked in the ice of a tundra and burned in the core of the sun. Thalia hit just the wrong nerve.

"No of course you're not. Maybe I'll go and ask Luke to go get ice cream next weekend. Or how about I call my mom and dad for a family game night? Certainly they'll be available because they definitely didn't abandon me." Her words turned white with heat through her gritted teeth. Each syllable was a stab wound to Thalia's heart. The conversation was a mess.

"That's not fair, Annabeth, and you know it." Thalia's voice deepened with the bubbling of frustration.

"No, Thalia, what's not fair is you joining the hunters and leaving me once again." Thalia didn't miss the rawness of the words Annabeth had choked out, like it was an impossible struggle to even think about them. Annabeth was in a turmoil of emotions and none of them were good.

"Annabeth you don't need me anymore. Not like you used to. Look how close you and Percy have gotten." Thalia's words were like a fresh blanket of snow, soft and gentle.

"That doesn't mean I don't miss you." Annabeth half-sobbed. She felt like Alice going down a never ending rabbit hole. She felt miserable and even more miserable when she looked at Thalia's coat and crown. Thalia should be wearing orange, not silver.

"We'll always be a family." Thalia pulled Annabeth into a hug and didn't let go.

She was here. She wasn't abandoning her. She'd always be here.


	6. Chapter 6

So this is a short little thing in which Annabeth never regained her sight after Tartarus

The metal handle was cool in her grasp. She felt its chill crawling its way millimeter by millimeter into her fingers and down her palm.

Tears were brimming in her eyes, almost at the brink of falling down. She would not let them fall. She would not give them the satisfaction. She would not feel their salty warmth roll down in streams on her cheeks. Besides, it would only be her fault if they did.

Why was she doing this to herself anyways? Why did she bring this kind of torture on herself? It's not like anything would ever change. She'd be blind for the rest of her life and that was an irreversible fact.

She brushed her fingertips over the glass, tenderly feeling the mirror as if it were a precious diamond. The comforter sunk in where she sat on their bed. Honestly, Percy could walk in at any second and see her like this. See her so weak. She knew that if he saw her like this he'd just try to make it better, but maybe that's what she wanted anyways.

Annabeth thought she was staring at the mirror, hoping so desperately that she was. She sent the inanimate object one of her death glares and was slightly disappointed to not feel it wither and shrink in her hands. She wanted to make it feel the pain she felt.

She adjusted to being blind fairly quickly, her hearing improved and she could still wield her dagger like no other, but at times like these being sightless just got to her. She wanted to know what she looked like, what her friends looked like. She wanted to see if she had any new scars and if one year had aged her any. All she would ever know now was what she looked like at 17. She'd never know how she would look in her 30s or how gray her hair would get at 80. She never even realized what a gift sight was and she wished she just hadn't been born with it at all. At least that was her thought process- you can't miss something if you never had it.

Annabeth didn't even realize she was crying until a tear splashed on her hands.

"Annabeth?" A hoarse whisper came from the doorway.

She jumped a little and threw the mirror quickly to the other side of the bed. She brushed away any tears that could have been there. She cursed herself for getting distracted and not taking care to hear if Percy was coming.

"Oh. Hi, Percy." Annabeth tried her best to act casual and not allow her voice to sound as watery as she thought it did.

Percy's footsteps creaked on the wooden floorboards making their way towards the blond. Calloused hands gripped Annabeth's equally cracked ones.

"What were you doing?" His voice was laced with so much concern and so much love it almost hurt to hear it.

She took a deep shaky breath. Silence expanded out between the two, draping itself all around the cozy bedroom.

A few more seconds ticked by in agony.

"Can I ask you something." Her voice sounded raw like she hadn't spoken a word in years or as if she'd been screaming in a sandy desert.

"Yea, of course." Percy's voice was soft so,so soft. He was leaning in close to Annabeth eyeing the mirror in the side of his view. His breath tickled her skin with the lightness of a feather.

"Will you describe what I look like?" Annabeth could feel herself cringing as she asked that. It felt so pathetic, she had adjusted to being blind and had even accepted it. Yet here she was still having moments of vulnerability.

Percy let out a hot breath before continuing. He never saw Annabeth as weak, not even once. He wished her pride would stop stopping her from realizing her strength and realize it was okay to show a little weakness. Having weakness didn't mean that one wasn't strong, it meant they were human.

"Well your hair is a bit shorter and you haven't brushed it in a few days." Annabeth's cheeks grew a little warm at that, but Percy quickly added on "But I like it like that. And it still makes you look like a princess and I have to restrict myself from playing with your blonde curls."

Annabeth laughed at that. Percy hardly restricted himself, nine times out of ten his fingers were woven in a lock of her hair.

"And, gods, your beautiful." He rested his forehead against hers and she crawled into his lap.

"Yea?" She gulped a little.

"More beautiful than Aphrodite." His finger traced the bottom of her lip.

"Careful what yous say there."

"It's only the truth."

"Thank you." She whispered. She meant it so much. More than he'd know.

Maybe it was a little hard at this moment, but she'd be okay. Sight or no sight Annabeth was fine. With Percy right next to her she didn't need a mirror to torture herself. She didn't need to see herself when she was loved like this.


	7. Chapter 7

Ok so this is just a little Frazel cuteness! I know it's not much and I haven't updated in a while so I'm so, so sorry if I disappointed anyone at all!

"No, Frank. The line needs to be a little more curved." A playful smile danced on her lips at the sight of her struggling boyfriend.

Hazel was trying to teach Frank how to draw a horse. His forehead was tight in concentration and his grip on the yellow colored pencil had no slack.

"It is curved!" He said in frustration not understanding why drawing was so hard.

The horse at the current moment looked more like a yellow tree than anything else. One ear was too large for its small, pointed head and the right leg was a great deal shorter than the left.

"Here, let me help."

Hazel took his hand in hers, a light, warm blush creeping up in her cheeks to match the reddening of his face. Her curls bounced wildly in her face and using her other hand she pushed them away.

Frank's hand was warm and a little clammy. Hazel's hand was calloused and petite against Frank's monster sized ones.

She could feel her blush blooming brighter, working its way to every inch of her face. Hopefully it wasn't noticeable, hopefully it was only heat.

"So we just need to dip the line down a hair more."

She glided his hand on the paper, creating the yellow outline of a horse's back. Her breath was a little shaky at the close proximity, but she reminded herself that Frank was her boyfriend and this was okay.

He looked up at her beaming like a child at Christmas.

"It looks so much better! Thanks, Hazel." His smile was a little smaller, more gentle and loving.

The horse still didn't look good. At best it could pass for a three legged cat, but Frank's happiness over it was so genuine that Hazel could never say the horse wasn't perfect.

"Anytime, Frank." Her voice was soft like the green meadows in the spring and the cotton ball clouds in the summer.

A shy kiss met her cheek with adoration. It felt like the rain drops on the petals of a flower that just bloomed, like the rolling of distant thunder on a muggy summer night, like the waves lapping at your ankles on a white sand beach.

The small kiss felt perfect.


	8. Chapter 8

"I'm right here! I'm right here! I'M RIGHT HERE!" Annabeth cried out in anguish. Tears hurdled themselves in heavy streams down her cheeks. She went in to swipe everything off his stupid, solid desk, but her hands passed right through as she knew they would. It infuriated her even more, made the cries rush out faster. Her breaths were labored, her head was pounding. She slid down the blue colored wall, pulling at her hair like a mad woman.

"I'm right here, Percy." She bubbled out through the sobs. Her head felt like a mess, every little thought and emotion was jumbled together.

She didn't know why this was happening to her. She shouldn't have died. She shouldn't be here in Percy's room as a... as a ghost. At least that's what she thought she was. All Annabeth remembered was driving. Driving to Percy's and then... and then there was a crash. She'd first appeared like this, like a ghost just outside of her mangled body that laid more or less in the front seat of her car. There were police cars and ambulances. A man shaking his head saying something about how young she was...

She didn't control where she went or when she went in this form. She'd just pop into places without her consent and always it was to see some kind of aftermath of her death on her loved ones. It was like the fates decided to play some extraordinarily cruel joke on her.

She was now in Percy's room. The hardest place she'd been yet.

Percy sat in the black, spinning chair that normally occupied Annabeth's body, not his. She'd spin as he talked or listened to music or attempted to do homework. She had laughed in that chair a thousand times, smiled a million times in that chair, but never did she tell him I love you. Never did she realize those smiles and laughs were an 'I love you' in their own, but neither did Percy. She realized that now, how much her heart ached and yearned to tell Percy she loved him. And now it was too late.

Percy sat in that chair, his head in his hands. She could hear his sobs, each new wail a knife to her heart. It physically pained her to hear them. She was right here. Why couldn't he just see that? Why? Why? WHY?! She was just two feet away. She was right beside him, like she had been all his life.

His cheeks were rosy. His body rose and fell. His face was stained as her own.

"Please, Percy. Please, I'm right here." She managed to choke out in between coughs that erupted from the consistent cries.

"Please." She begged, so desperate, so absolutely hopeless.

Annabeth stood from her position on the floor and hugged Percy from behind.

"Please, Percy. I'm right here." She whispered into his hair, no longer even feeling. All feelings had been drained out of her by a starving black hole. Despair circled and weaved its way around her heart, in and out. She was encompassed by a shroud of darkness.

Still his body shook.

"A-Annabeth. I loved you. I-I l-l-loved you so much. And I never told you." Percy was barely capable to sputter that out.

"I loved you too, Percy. Percy, please I'm right here and I love you. I love you with a burning fire in my heart. And it's so fierce. Percy, please. Please. Just, please." Her throat felt hoarse. More tears fell, dripping softly like snowflakes onto Percy's gray sweatshirt. Annabeth loved that sweatshirt. It was the same one he had lent her during October at the football game. When things started to be more than friendship between the pair.

A light, tender knock came from Percy's door.

"Sweetie, it's mom." Sally's watery voice came from the other side. It was clear that she was holding her own cries from falling from her mouth.

Percy gasped and gasped, trying to even his breathing. He wiped his red rimmed eyes with shaking hands and stood up on even shakier legs. His long stride got him to the door in just a few steps.

Sally was there, dwarfed by Percy's size. Her tattered green pajamas hung limply on her body. Her mouse brown hair was pulled into a messy bun and her body sagged in tiredness.

Not even a moment after opening the door, Percy collapsed into his mother's arms. Both of them fell to the floor, kneeling on the soft, tan carpet.

Their sobs synchronized and despite Percy's weight and size, Sally held him up as if he was just a pillow. It looked as if all of Percy's strength had been sucked out by the same black hole that drained Annabeth of everything, not that that hole would keep her feelings for long. No, they were just starting to rise right back to full intensity.

"M-mom. I was going to tell her. That's why I called her over. I was going to tell her I loved her. It's my fault." Percy pushed himself away from his mom, pure horror crossing his face.

"Oh my god. It's my fault she's dead." He whispered terrified. He looked at his hands as if he wanted to jump out of his own skin in disgust.

Sally was furiously shaking her head. "No! No, baby, it's not your fault at all. It was a drunk driver that killed her, not you." She frantically rubbed circles into her sons back in a small attempt to comfort him and rid him of such incorrect and destructive thoughts.

He choked on another sob before saying, "Mom, it is. If I hadn't asked her to come or If I went to her house she'd still be here. I just want her here, mom. I just want her here. Why can't she just be here?" Each fiber of his being was breaking down with each broken word. He was just as desperate as Annabeth for each others contact.

"I am here, Percy. Why can't you see that?" Annabeth wondered allowed. She shook his shoulder, hoping for some sort of reaction. Even just the hint of acknowledging her presence. "Percy. Percy! PERCY!" Her volume raised higher and higher each time she called his name.

"Percy, you want me here and I am here! I'm right here! Look at me. Goddammit, look at me Percy! I'M RIGHT HERE!" Her voice was gone by now, nothing more than aching screeches. She was so frustrated. Percy begged for her and she was here.

"I SAID I'M RIGHT HERE!" She pounded on the wall, no noise escaping. She pounded harder. Nothing happened. She kept on pounding and Percy kept on sobbing. She was right here. Percy, she was right here.

Ψ

Orange and black caps decorated everyone's head. Balloons of the same color were tied on the chairs lining the aisle. Jason stood at the podium, ready to give his valedictorian speech.

 _I should be here_ , Annabeth thought from her empty spot in the rows and rows of chairs meant to host the families and friends of the graduates.

Annabeth smiled bitterly to herself. She had been so excited for graduation. It had been in just two weeks. Two weeks she didn't get alive.

She spotted Percy right away of course. He looked so handsome in the school's dreadful orange robes. Really, they didn't flatter many people. She studied him as best as she could from her distance. His face was expressionless as it had been since the day in his bedroom. He was like a stone now, unmovable and uncaring. He hardly had eaten anything the past two weeks and the sudden diet change was showing. His face was gaunt and hollow, eerie to compare to the normally smiling, red cheeked boy.

Annabeth hadn't been moved from the Jackson's apartment until now. The fates must have decided that it was time to taunt her with more what-could-have-beens. She really just wanted a break. She wanted to rest. All the emotional turmoil was too much.

Her thoughts wandered until she heard the unmistakable low voice of one of her best friends, Jason Grace. She had been so proud of him when he made valedictorian, though he never seemed to want it as much as one would expect.

"Um, hello." He said unsure into the mic. His voice dipped with nerves, he swallowed and tried to ignore the incoming crack of his voice.

"I had an original speech planned for this. One much more official and formal than how this is going to start off." He chuckled a little, still on edge and the crowd went along with him.

"In light of recent events, I want to dedicate this speech to one of my best friends, Annabeth Chase." Fought back tears could be heard in his strained voice.

"I- I met Annabeth back in sixth grade. She had told me that I squinted when looking at the board and should look into getting glasses." Annabeth smiled at the memory, something oddly fond to both of them. "She was an amazing person. Annabeth was one of those people that was just so determined in everything she did. Some might have called it stubbornness, I know I did, but she worked so hard. She worked hard in school. She finished in the top ten of our class despite having ADHD and dyslexia, not that those hindered her learning, they only made her more determined to show people what she could do.

"Annabeth was a one of a kind person, someone you only get to come across once in a lifetime. She deserved more than anyone I know to be here, sitting in her cap and gown, receiving her diploma. But she's not and that's not fair. I just hope she knows how much everyone misses her, how much I wish that I could give her her diploma myself. I hope she knows, wherever she may be that she deserved a much longer life, but even though she didn't get one, she lived the life she had to perfect use." By now Jason had let the tears flow down, but still maintained how many he would show to the public.

Annabeth scanned the students taking notice to all the wet cheeks, feeling very touched when she saw Percy standing up. His face was scrunched in discomfort, tears running unashamedly down his cheeks in furious waves. Finally, he was showing some reaction. But now he was leaving the ceremony.

Annabeth knew she had to follow him. She didn't want him to be alone. Even if he didn't recognize her presence.

She ran after him. He turned into the school, opening the heavy metal and glass doors with a giant, easy swing. He stomped more than walked down the long tiled hallways lit with dimmed lights. He stopped short in front of her locker where he used to meet her before lunch every school day. Annabeth kept a picture of them on the inside of her locker from a camping trip last summer. They had planned on going again after graduation.

Percy leaned against her locker like it was his lifeline, physically straining against the sadness that was set so deep in every crevice and nook of his heart.

"Why did you have to die, Annabeth?" He whispered to himself, but Annabeth still answered.

"I've been asking myself the same thing, Percy." Annabeth sighed, bringing her hand to his bicep. He still didn't register her touch.

"We had a future planned. We were going to go to college together. I was going to tell you I love you. I thought we might even get married sometime. I thought we were invincible."

"I know, Percy. I know." Annabeth felt shaky. She felt the tears pooling. She felt them dropping and running and spiraling down, down, down.

"I'm lost without you. I want, no need, you to be here Annabeth. I need you so bad." Percy said, still whispering as if he knew Annabeth was standing right next to him. As if it was late at night and Annabeth was staying over and he was telling her stories in that sleepy tone he got just before falling asleep.

Annabeth took one more step closer to Percy. She wouldn't be able to move anymore without walking through him.

"I'm right here, Percy. I'll always be right here." She whispered back.

And when she looked into his eyes, she swore he looked back.


	9. Chapter 9

I got a request for Tratie, so here it is! This is partly inspired by Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Dear Miranda,

Hi. I know you're not here, not really. So many people keep telling me how you'll always be here. I don't really think that's true, but Dr. Day thinks I shouldn't think so negatively and was the one that suggested for me to write these letters. I miss you a lot. The house is really quiet without you now. Dad even flew in from Florida and is spending the next couple weeks with Mom and I. Mom arranged a really nice bouquet for the funeral. It was filled with all your favorites (even the little purple ones that are so hard to grow in this weather). I think this is all I can manage today. I love you.

Love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

It's been three months. I don't see Dr. Day any more, partly because I lied about writing these letters. I told her I wrote to you every day even though I haven't wrote in months, that it's helped me greatly, but in actual honesty I haven't wrote anymore because I had nothing worth telling. Now I do. I'm not as sad anymore, I still miss you though. Dad hasn't left, I think him and Mom might even remarry. I wish you were here to see her smile. It's so beautiful, Miranda. It's like sunshine pouring right out. I haven't seen her so happy in a long, long time.

Do you remember Travis Stoll?

Well, if you don't, let me remind you.

He's a total ass. We were in art class today and he just had to poor blue paint all over my jacket. Well, actually your jacket. It was the one you wore all the time with the baby blue and pink stripes. It was the only thing that still smelled like you. Flowers and earth and cool mountain spring water.

I went home after that. Mom is still trying to get the paint out. At least I slapped him right across the face before leaving. That left him both blue and red. I didn't even get in trouble.

He's the kind of person that deserves a thousand slaps. He doesn't deserve anything, but horribleness. He's made my life hell since that first day of kindergarten and this is just the icing on the cake.

I hope you're doing well,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

Travis Stoll had the audacity to apologize to me with a bushel of flowers today. He even said he felt bad for ruining your jacket. Ugh! He is so infuriating. I doubt he has even a fraction of an ounce of guilt in his whole body. It was probably the principal or his mother that forced him to apologize.

The flowers were nice, though. Bright, tall tulips of purple and pink. He probably just pulled them from a neighbor's garden on the way to school. He wouldn't ever do something actually nice.

I guess I just needed to rant to you like old times. Do you remember when we'd rant to each other in your bedroom? We would sit on your bed with that old Bratz blanket you got for your 5th birthday. I'd go out and buy us Neapolitan ice cream. You'd eat the chocolate part, I'd eat the strawberry, and we always left the vanilla part to mealt.

I miss that.

With love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

Dad proposed to Mom today. I'm happy, I really am. Mom was glowing as bright as a star when she said yes. I just... I feel a little ignored now. It's like they don't have time for me between work and dates. I know if you were here you'd take a break from life and just play a board game or two with me. You'd make sure I wasn't lonely. You'd love me like nobody else.

Missing you,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

It's been a year since you died. I can finally talk about you without crying. Dad cheated on mom again, just before the wedding. She was a young blonde, bombshell. Hardly even twenty-five. Just goes to show what a pig he really is.

It's just the two of us now. Mom and I, I house feels really empty.

Is it bad that I don't really care he left? Is it selfish to feel happy that now Mom will have time with me?

I feel wrong, Miranda. But I'm glad he's going. After all, he wasn't that great of a dad.

Love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

Travis Stoll sat by me at lunch today. At first I was livid. How dare that boy try to worm his way into my daily life. I don't have time for buffoons like him.

But... It wasn't that bad (much to my dismay). He tried to make small talk (I ignored him) and then we sat in a peaceful, partly uncomfortable silence. Actually, now that I think about it. He wasn't bad at all. Maybe I've been a little harsh on him. I think I'm still bitter over the jacket. It still has a large blue stain on the back. Mom tried her best, but even the best isn't enough sometimes.

Love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

I've been tutoring Travis for the past three weeks. I take back what I said before, he really is a nice boy. Every tutoring session includes some sort of apology from him for all the pranks he's played on me. I hope he knows how much that means to me. Not many people apologize for the wrongs they've done. It really shows maturity, something he's been severely lacking for a long, long time.

I think we're friends now. He sits by me at lunch almost everyday and knows that strawberry is my favorite flavor (he's brought me strawberries on several occasions). It's nice. After your death a lot of my friends didn't know how to act around me, so just ignored me. Even Lacy. She'll wave at me every once in a while, but we haven't had a sleepover in ages or went to the movies together in months.

I miss my friends...

With Love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

Did you know Travis had a brother? His name was Connor. He died from leukemia three years ago. I feel a lot more connected to Travis now, he knows what I'm going through. It's comforting to know I'm finally not alone. I still think about you all the time (just like Travis does Connor).

Love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

Travis asked me to be his girlfriend today. I wasn't surprised at all. Things between us have been a lot more than just 'friends' lately. He'd wrap his arm around my shoulders when another boy started flirting with me. Our hugs goodbye would linger on for just a moment too long. Our hands would 'accidentally' brush against each other.

Just months ago I hated him with a fury so hot and red it mirrored the sun itself, but now... Now, those feelings are soft and warm, humming with happiness.

All throughout the day he was showing me off to his friends like I was the most beautiful diamond in the world, like he was the luckiest guy to be dating me. My cheeks were as red as the strawberries he brings me!

You'd love him, Miranda. He's funny and charming and his smirk could get him in trouble almost anywhere.

I'm sorry you'll never meet him.

I'm sorry you never got the chance.

Love,

Katie

Dear Miranda,

I'm so sorry. I haven't written to you in weeks, months even.

I've been on cloud nine since Travis asked me to be his girlfriend. My heart soars when he calls me 'his girl'. That trouble maker smirk is in my daydreams. His kisses are so gentle when they need to be, but greedy when both of us want more.

We haven't gone that far yet... but almost. He holds me in his arms like I'm a fragile piece of china and looks at me with a glow in his eyes.

I've never felt this kind of adoration before.

He's the world to me.

I think I'm falling in love with him, Miranda.

I think I'm okay with that.

Love,

Katie


	10. Chapter 10

When Sally Jackson had given birth to her baby boy she wasn't surprised to find a faded blue trident shaped symbol on her son's right wrist. The very tip of the shape reached almost to the palm of his hand and the base stopped at the middle of his forearm, right besides a dark brown freckle.

His father, Poseidon as he was nicknamed, had had a symbol similar to his, though it was located on the back of his hand and was the prongs were a stormy green that twisted around each other like a whirlwind of design. Sally had worn that symbol for years, but it faded to only a faint outline when her beloved never returned from a trip at sea.

Her own symbol started just behind her left ear and worked its way all the way down to her collar bone with twists and curves lacing down the back of her neck. It was a string of royal blue beads that was so lovely and delicate, and so very interesting to look at. Her symbol was strong and prominent, nothing like her son's light one.

His symbol was just as interesting as her own. It was marbled with fainter and fainter blues. It's edges glowed in minty rays. It was beautiful. No other word could describe it.

Sally knew something so beautiful should be cherished. She knew that whoever was to wear her son's symbol would be as beautiful as it, if not more. She knew her little Percy was going to have a love so radiant it would withstand anything, even being lost at sea.

The first day of third grade Percy met what would be his life long best friend.

She was the only student in the room that hadn't laughed at him as he struggled to read a simple line of text from a first grade reading level book.

Heat was simmering in his cheeks, red crawling through every inch of his face. It was embarrassing enough that the words jumped off the page and twisted and turned so he couldn't make sense of them in their floating state, but to have to read those words aloud to a whole classroom was torture in itself.

He felt hot pricks in the back of his eyes, tears threatening to come when he saw the blonde across the room give him a determined nod of her head as if to say "keep going, you're doing fine."

He gave a slight motion of his head and continued to stumble and stammer over the current paragraph. When his turn was over he breathed a much needed sigh of relief and flashed the girl a friendly smile in thanks. He hadn't cried reading and he owed her much for that with her small encouragement.

After class she approached him with perfect poise.

"Annabeth Chase." She greeted him with a firm handshake like a business woman thrice her age. Her gray eyes did not linger for a millisecond off of Percy's own green eyes.

"Percy Jackson." Percy mumbled back after the shock of the formal greeting wore off. "Thanks for not laughing at me." Percy added on

Annabeth cocked her head.

"Why would I laugh? I can't read either."

This took a moment for Percy to process because she seemed so smart it was hard to believe she had the same problems as Percy.

He was going to say something else when Annabeth began to say something about how it was nice to make "acquaintances" with each other, though Percy hadn't a clue what the word even meant when his mind wandered off.

He got lost in her brewing eyes and how the steels and charcoals danced around and around as the fluorescent school lights flickered.

"Percy!" The young girl snapped.

He shook his head to rid himself of the distraction.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked for your home phone number so my father can call your parents so we could get together over this weekend. I mean, if that's okay with you." She said a slight red starting to tint her cheeks.

Percy nodded happily, oblivious to Annabeth's minor embarrassment and scribbled his phone number on a scrap piece of paper (it took him 10 minutes to get the order right, but when he did, he was very satisfied).

"Yeah! You should come over my house, my mom makes the best blue cookies!" Percy's face split into a massive grin and his eyes went starry at the thought of his mother's cookies.

Annabeth scrunched her little nose.

"Blue cookies?" She said with a favorable amount of distaste.

Percy nodded enthusiastically.

"They're super awesome!"

Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again as a silver Lexus approached the parent pick-up station in which the duo was standing.

"Well that's my dad. I'll see you soon!" With that Annabeth waved good bye and skipped to the car, lilac lace dress bouncing around her.

It was only then that Percy noticed a symbol on her ankle, but before he got to see what it was, she had already gotten the car door closed.

—–

The first time Percy and Annabeth hung out together was at Percy's small apartment. True to his word, Percy's mom, Sally, made blue chocolate chip cookies.

Annabeth held the cookie in her hand a safe distance away from the rest of her body.

"Are you sure these are okay to eat? It's not poisonous, right?" Annabeth asked inspecting the cookie, turning it over and over and over.

Sally laughed from her spot on the couch in the other room. She looked up from her book to see Percy taking a gigantic bite from his own cookie.

"See? All good." Percy said through a mouthful of food which made Annabeth scrunch her face in disgust.

Sally chuckled to herself.

"Percy." Sally said in a reprimanding tone. "It's not polite to talk with your mouth full in the company of a lady."

Percy was about to speak again, but with one look from his mother chewed the cookie thoroughly and gave an over exaggerated swallow to show he was done.

"Sorry mom!" Percy said with a bright, childish smile.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to Annabeth."

Percy turned in his chair so he was facing Annabeth once more.

"Sorry, Annabeth" He said in a more gentle tone.

"It's okay." She giggled.

They didn't know it at the time, but they'd have many more times like this. Always they hung out at Percy's house. Annabeth's dad was hardly ever home so it was just the nanny to occupy the very, very large home. Annabeth preferred the Jackson's much more than the blonde hair, uptight nanny she was stuck with daily.

—–

The second time Annabeth came over to the Jackson's, Percy asked about her symbol.

"Oh, you mean my owl?" Annabeth asked innocently.

"Yea! I saw it on your ankle one day after school. I have a trident. It's a lot like my dad's symbol. At least that's what my mom said. I never meant my dad though. He's lost at sea and-" Percy never got to finish what he was saying when Annabeth interrupted.

"Percy, you asked me about my symbol." She said with slight annoyance, she loved to talk about her symbol. It was something she was extremely proud of with it's elegant shimmery wings and how the owl looked as though it was in flight.

"Oh, yea!" Percy's enthusiasm wasn't the least bit deflated.

Annabeth rolled up the jeans to just above her ankle. Her legs were skinny making her ankles even skinnier and very knobby. The bones bulged at awkward ankles waiting for more weight to be added.

"See, it's an owl. A barn owl to be specific. It looks like it's in flight and if I move my foot the right way the wings will look like they're flapping." To prove her point she began shaking her ankle in a funny dance.

Percy couldn't take his eyes of the design. She was right about it looking like it was flying. The wings seemed to ever so slightly swing up and down as if it were going to fly right off her ankle into the starry night sky. He was so purely mesmerized by it. The color, well colors of the owl were exact to the shades in Annabeth's eyes. The owl had large mechanical eyes with iris shaped like metal gears. It was very fascinating.

"Did you know owls are the symbol of Athena? She's the Greek goddess of wisdom. They called my mom Athena because of her owl symbol. I don't know what it looked like. She died after having me. I guess it's a lot like you and your dad." Annabeth said bringing Percy out of her state.

"Do you want to see my symbol?" Percy asked with huge eyes. Annabeth always had interesting facts to share with him. She was much smarter than the average nine year old.

Annabeth giggled.

"What?" Percy asked defensively.

"I see your symbol everyday, Seaweed Brain." She explained and it was true. Percy's symbol was right out in the open for anyone's eyes. The only time you couldn't see it was if he was wearing long sleeves and that was hardly ever.

"Seaweed Brain?" Percy asked.

Annabeth nodded as if the simple gesture was enough to answer the question.

"Whatever you say, Wise Girl." Percy shrugged in response, knowing his nickname for her was much lamer than her's for him.

"So are you gonna show me your symbol or what?" Annabeth asked after silently approving the nickname she had been given. It wasn't too bad in all honesty.

"I thought you said you see it everyday."

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Well you can still show it to me."

So Percy did. Annabeth inspected the blue trident just like she did the cookie.

"Yours is very light." Annabeth remarked.

"I know."

At that moment Sally walked into the room the kids were playing in with a bowl of chips for the pair to snack on.

"What are you two rascals talking about?" Sally asked placing the chips on the floor and then sitting down between the two.

"Our symbols!" Percy said happily, scooting over to be closer to his mom.

"Oh?" Sally raised an eyebrow. "Do you guys know the story of our symbols?"

Annabeth shook her head along with Percy.

"Well come closer and I'll tell you guys." The kids inched closer so they were huddled around Sally, impatiently waiting for her to get on with the story.

"When a person is born they have a special symbol on some part of their body that is unique to just them." Percy and Annabeth nodded, they already knew this part.

"When that person grows up and has the chance to fall in love another symbol will appear on their body. The symbol of the one they love. Now this new symbol might fade over time if their love weakens or the other dies, but it will never go away because one cannot completely eradicate love. See the trident on the palm of my left hand?" Sally pointed to the symbol with her other hand. "This was the symbol of Percy's father. Ever since he was lost at sea it began fading, but it's still there just like my love is for him." Sally said noticing the interest and delight in the faces of the two. She was glad the story kept them entertained, it could be hard to do that with two ADHD kids.

"That was beautiful." Annabeth whispered, wondering who's symbol she would carry someday.

—–

Percy and Annabeth had been inseparable for most of their lives. Throughout the years of their friendship they had multiple sleepovers, Disney movie marathons, water balloon fights, and late night talks about what they were going to do in the future and classmates they really, really didn't like.

Annabeth became a constant resident at the Jackson household. After her father married her nanny and they had twins when Annabeth was ten she liked to spend even less time at her home than when her nanny was just her nanny and not her step-mother.

Sally became like a mother figure in her own right. She took Annabeth on shopping trips when her dad was away for business, rented chick flicks and popped popcorn for girl nights in, and helped Annabeth in any way she needed as she grew up.

Though once they hit high school the sleepovers became less frequent, there were no new movies to watch, and both of them always had an overload of homework. Their friendship was slightly strained, but nothing they couldn't get passed.

It was the middle of sophomore year and the duo was lounging on Percy's bed. Annabeth had her feet across Percy's lap, Percy had his eyes locked on the screen of his phone, brow furrowed in concentration as he played a new app, and Annabeth had her head nose deep in a book.

Annabeth put down the surprisingly heavy paperback and blew a tuft of hair out of her eye. Both her and Percy were sixteen now, both had their driver's license, and both still were dazzled by their symbols.

"So, I was talking to Rachel today." Annabeth started.

Rachel was one of their good friends they met in eighth grade. She was a mellow girl, extremely talented in art and had a head of fiery red curls. Her symbol was a larger green, blue, and red splatter on her right cheek covering some of the mass of freckles that scattered across her face.

"Mm-hmm." Percy said not really listening.

Annabeth kicked him lightly in the ribs to grab his attention.

"Hey, listen to me, Seaweed Brain."

Percy exited out of the game, shut his phone off, and looked up at his best friend whom was still resting her long legs on him.

"What is it, Wise Girl?"

Annabeth finally sat up from her position and instead sat cross legged on the black, cotton comforter.

"As I was saying, I talked to Rachel today." Annabeth said twiddling her thumbs.

"What about Rachel?" Percy propped himself up on his elbows, looking at Annabeth with some suspicion. Percy had a bit of a feeling that Rachel might just like him and not in just a "friend" way.

"She was talking about Homeocming coming up. You should ask her to go with. You guys could double date with me and Luke." Annabeth said trying to sound nonchalant, but failing at doing so.

That was another thing that happened, Annabeth started dating a boy in the grade above him. His name was Luke Castellan and she started dating him in her freshman year. Percy wasn't so sure how he felt about that.

He sighed, "I don't know, Annabeth. I don't like her like that and I really don't want her to get the wrong idea. She's one of my good friends."

Annabeth let out a defeated breath.

"I figured you'd say that. She really likes you, you know? You should give her a shot. You haven't even ever had a girlfriend." Annabeth said.

"Yea well maybe I haven't found the right person yet." Percy looked at Annabeth. The way he looked at her so… meaningful made Annabeth a bit uncomfortable. His sea-green eyes were a window to his being and Annabeth refused to look through.

She shifted in her seat, "Taking her to homecoming would still be nice."

—–

Percy ended up not even going to homecoming, but instead stayed in with his mom and watched reruns of their favorite sow together. So when he got a call from a sobbing and practically incoherent Annabeth saying she was on her way over he was already up getting out a pair of pajamas for her and anxiously pacing in front of the door.

A small, weak knock came from the front door and Percy immediately leaped to swing it open. Standing there in her gold sequined dress, blonde curls falling everywhere was Annabeth with tear stains and tears still flooding from her eyes. Despite all that she still looked beautiful, at least to Percy anyways.

Percy pulled her right into a hug, she gripped his gray sweatshirt and sobbed into his shoulder. He rested his chin on the crown of her head and rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"What's wrong, Wise Girl?" It pained Percy to ask the question so much that it came out in a hoarse whisper. He never wanted to see Annabeth upset like this.

"L-Luke." Annabeth blubbered out. She felt Percy's grip tighten his grip on her, his large biceps filling with tension.

She pulled back from him and shook her head rapidly.

"No! Percy it's not like that! It's not his fault." She didn't sound like she was lying, but the tears told him otherwise.

"What did he do?" Percy asked softly.

Annabeth sighed tiredly.

"Can we go to your room?"

Percy nodded and led her to his room. They sat on the same bed that they sat on just days ago when they were talking about Rachel and double dating and everything was good.

"Do you want to talk?" Percy asked in that same soft, soothing tone.

Annabeth waited a moment to respond, gathering up courage she barely had.

"He- He had someone else's symbol on him." She said, suppressing tears.

"Oh, Annabeth." Percy pulled her into another tight hug.

She curled into his side still shaking with sobs.

When her cries began to cease she pulled herself from Percy like letting go of an anchor.

Wiping at her eyes to dry them she said, "I'm not mad at him. I know one can't help who they fall in love with. I just wish he told me sooner."

"Me too, Annabeth. Me too." Percy said placing a kiss atop her head.

—–

It was one more day until Percy and Annabeth started their junior year of school. They were both seventeen now and many of their classmates dawned a symbol that wasn't their own.

The pair found themselves lounging on Percy's bed like they've done so many times before. It seemed that the most important moments and conversations happened on his black comforter.

The scene was just like that day in their sophomore year when Annabeth suggested that Percy ask Rachel to homecoming. Annabeth was laying across Percy, Percy had his eyes glued to the screen of his phone, and Annabeth had her nose in a book. They were comfortable like this.

Percy looked up from his screen.

"Hey, Annabeth." He said.

"Yea?" She didn't look up from her book and her eyes continued to flick across the worn and yellow pages.

"No, I need you to listen to me." He said, letting her know that what he was about to say was important.

She put down the book, moving her flowered book mark between the pages she was on and locked her gray eyes onto his green.

"What is it, Percy?"

He breathed in a little then said, "I'm not doing swim this year."

Annabeth was shocked. Percy loved the swim team, heck his favorite activity was swimming. It was hard to even get him out of the water once he was in it. But now that Annabeth thought about it… She didn't remember going swimming once this year with him. It had always been with her other friends like Rachel or Hazel or Piper. Never with Percy.

"Why? You love swimming and you're the best on the team." She was still in a state of shock, Percy would never quit the swim team. It had to be a prank, but he didn't sound like he was lying…

Percy casually shrugged.

"I don't know. I just don't think it's for me."

Annabeth knew he was lying by the way his words wobbled slightly. She wondered why he was keeping the real reason from her.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain. Don't try to lie to me. What's the real reason you're quitting?"

In the blink of an eye Percy took a defensive position. He cleared his face of emotion so it was a blank slate and hunched his shoulders forward.

"I'm not lying. I just don't want to do it, okay?" His voice took on a fierce edge warning Annabeth she was treading into a danger zone.

She shrugged, trying to keep things from escalating as she knew they could with Percy.

"Alright if you don't want to tell me the real reason, you don't have to." She said, picked up her book and continued reading.

Percy grunted and went back to playing his app.

The atmosphere in the room was no longer comfortable like before, but was filled with traces of awkwardness neither of them could deny.

—–

Annabeth had been on her way home from the debate club meeting when she remembered she had accidentally forgotten her winter coat at Percy's the other day. She figured she'd just stop over and grab it, knowing it was supposed to get cold that night and she had to grocery shopping for her family in the morning.

It was midterm week of their senior year and since Annabeth had gotten hers over in the first two days of the five she had plenty of time to spend with her friends. Things had been a little tense between them since junior year and Annabeth couldn't figure out why, which bothered her to almost insanity. Percy was her best friend, but lately he'd been acting more distant and just plain out weird at times like he was intentionally putting space between them. Still, they hung out like old times and nothing could change that.

She pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building she's been to a million times since she was nine. Already the weather was getting to near freezing and she rubbed her arms trying to stay warm to during the walk to the front doors of the building.

As she opened the doors to the stairwell leading to his apartment Annabeth was greeted with a blast of hot air. She sighed contently, rubbing her hands and cherishing he soon to be gone heat. She took two steps forward, back into the cold familiar air of Percy's building.

Her black boots clicked and echoed as she walked up the deserted, dimly lit stairwell. She smiled as she pushed open the door to his floor, red worn carpet meeting her feet.

She checked her watch. It was four o'clock, nobody would be home now. Sally was working at the candy shop and Percy had to stay after for detention (that boy couldn't hold his tongue to save his life). She pulled out the key to the apartment that Sally had given to her years ago. It was bronze in color and Annabeth painted the top with purple nail polish.

The door opened easily and Annabeth entered the apartment like it was her own home (it practically was anyways). Just as she closed the door a person came out from the bathroom. More specifically, the shower.

It wasn't the fact that Percy was wearing only a towel around his waste that made Annabeth stop dead in her tracks. It wasn't even the shock that someone was at the apartment. It was what was on Percy's glistening wet chest that made both Annabeth and Percy wide-eyed, staring at each other like thieves caught in a robbery.

Right over his heart was a silvery owl with wings stretched out so it looked like it was flying. Right over his heart was Annabeth's symbol.

Percy gulped and took an intake of breath.

"Annabeth." He said dumbly.

Annabeth didn't say anything for a while, silenced by fear and shock.

"What's on your chest?" She asked, her voice five octaves too high.

Percy looked down where Annabeth's symbol laid on his chest.

"Annabeth let's not talk about this right now, just let me get dressed."

Annabeth nodded wordlessly, taking a seat on the sunken in couch. The couch they had watch movies on, slept on, grew up on.

When Percy came back fully dressed in a blue t shirt (that was just too tight for Annabeth's liking) and jeans, Annabeth still couldn't take her eyes off the spot where her symbol was tattooed on her best friend's skin.

Percy sat on the couch, a respectable distance away from Annabeth herself. Neither of them spoke for a long, long time. It was Percy who first interrupted the deafening silence.

"Look, Annabeth let's just ignore this. Pretend it never happened." His deep, scratchy voice was anxious. His knee was bouncing up and down, up and down. He was looking in the exact opposite direction that Annabeth was sitting in.

A sudden hot white anger bubbled inside of Annabeth. How could Percy say to ignore something like this? Something so life changing?

"Ignore this? Forget it happened?" Annabeth was seething through her teeth. She was so angry and irritated with Percy for thinking she could just ignore this.

"How can I ignore that my best friend is in love with me!" Annabeth jumped, hands balled into tight fists.

That was a mistake. Now Percy was upset.

"Yea, well I've had to deal with it for the past year!" Percy got off the couch too, and his face was only inches from Annabeth, red with anger. The whole situation was one gigantic mess.

Annabeth took a step back, regaining her rationality at his statement. He's been in love with her for a year. A whole year and he'd kept this from her.

"Is that why you quit the swim team? Why you've been shutting me out?"

"Yea well I can't really go around shirtless at a swim meet when my best friend's symbol is on my chest." Percy spat, more mad at himself than Annabeth.

Annabeth felt a rush of panic hit all her nerves. Hyperventilation was only seconds away. Confrontation wasn't on her favorite things to do list and knowing her best friend is in love with her made a wave of nausea come over her. Her brain couldn't process the information right now. Her moment of rationality was gone to the wind.

"I- I think I need to go." Annabeth said as fast as she could while she grabbed the forgotten coat and sprinted out the door.

—–

It wasn't until the last day before school after the midterm break that Percy and Annabeth talked again.

Percy was laying on his couch absentmindedly flipping through channel after channel. He had been in a blah state ever since Annabeth found out he was in love with her, and not just that, but for over a year. Sally knew what was going on and sympathized for her son, but wanted the two to make things up. Annabeth was like her daughter and she missed her just as much as Percy did.

Percy's phone began to ring. He picked it up off the coffee table to see it was Annabeth calling him. Her contact name, Wise Girl, flashed on the screen along with her princess curls and a laughing smile. Percy braced himself for the conversation before pressing the accept button.

"Hello?" Percy asked, trying to control and level his voice.

"Hi." Annabeth's voice was so small and delicate, Percy wanted to reach through the phone, wrap his arms around her and protect her from the world (even though she could handle herself just fine).

"What's up?" His voice caught in his throat.

"Can I come over?" She sounded desperate, almost vulnerable.

Percy was taken a bit aback by the question. Annabeth was always welcomed at his house no matter what was going on between them. She never needed to ask.

"Yea, of course." He found himself nodding along as if she were there to see.

"Ok, I'll be there soon." With that Annabeth hung up.

Annabeth arrived at the apartment far faster than speed limit should allow, but Percy didn't mind. When he opened the door she stood in the hallway, bundled in layer after layer of clothes. Her already rosy cheeks were frost bitten red and she was shivering like a chihuahua.

"Hey." Percy said.

"Hi."

She stepped in and stripped of her coat, gloves, hat, and scarf leaving her black shirt, jeans, and socks.

"Is you mom home?" She asked.

Percy shook his head.

"No, she had to cover a friend's shift at the candy shop."

"Oh."

An awkward moment passed between the two. Awkward moments never used to happen with them. They meshed too well together for awkward.

"Do you want to go to my room?"

Annabeth nodded like that was exactly what she wanted.

The two went into his room and sat on the bed that they'd sat on thousands of times before. But this time was different. Annabeth wasn't laying across Percy. Percy wasn't on his phone playing the hottest new app and Annabeth wasn't reading a book. Instead they were sitting on the edge of the bed, not touching or even looking at each other.

This time Annabeth broke the silence.

"Can I- can I see my symbol?" She finally looked up at him, her nervousness starting to fade away, replaced with the determined and sometimes scary Annabeth that Percy had fallen in love with.

Percy nodded and took off his shirt, placing it on the bed. It'd be a lie to say Annabeth didn't notice his defined muscles or the way his biceps flexed as he took the cotton over his head.

Just like magic, Annabeth's symbol was on his chest, branding Percy as in love.

Annabeth took her small fingers and gently swept over the design she was so familiar with. Percy inhaled sharply as her skin grazed his. Annabeth snatched her hand back quickly.

"Sorry." She said.

"It's fine." He wouldn't look her in the eye.

Another silence lapsed between them. Annabeth broke it again.

"Percy, I need you to take off my shirt." Her face was dead set and serious.

"Um, Annabeth, I don't- I don't think that's a good idea." Percy stammered as his face bloomed beet red.

Annabeth realized how forward the command was and what alternative meaning it held. She rolled her eyes as she too gained a blush.

"I didn't mean like that. Gods, Percy." She scoffed, hoping her embarrassment wouldn't show.

"Oh, um okay." Percy said, still unsure. He grabbed the ends of Annabeth's shirt and pulled it over her head.

Once the piece of fabric was off she stood from the bed and turned around.

Across her whole back was a giant, faded blue trident. Across her whole back was Percy's symbol.

Percy gasped.

"When?"

"I noticed it after I got home the day I saw my symbol on you."

Percy stood from his seat and began tracing the lines of his symbol on Annabeth's back. His touch made her shiver.

"May I?" Percy asked fiddling with the clasp of her bra.

Thinking it over, she nodded.

He undid the clasp to look at the symbol in full.

"It's beautiful." He said in awe.

Annabeth quickly clasped her bra again and put back her shirt after a few seconds. She only wanted to show him the symbol, not all of her skin. It just had to wind up right there across her whole back.

She turned around to Percy who was also fully dressed.

"So you're in love with me?" He asked as if the giant trident wasn't proof enough.

Annabeth nodded.

"And you're in love with me." She said.

Neither of them knew when the space between them started to decrease, but soon enough their lips found each other and their hearts finally felt whole.

"I love you." They both whispered at the same time.

Percy was in love with Annabeth and Annabeth was in love with Percy.


	11. Chapter 11

Hi! I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend Kate ( katiebug0410 on tumblr) she came up with some really good ideas that are going to be used in later chapters!

"Travis, can you come here?!" Katie yelled from the bedroom, her voice slightly shaking from nervousness.

"What is it?" Travis yelled back from the kitchen, where he was preparing his wife a ham and cheese sandwich. He noticed how Katie's voice quavered and put down the knife he used to cu the sandwich and awaited a response.

"Just come here." She still sounded nervous, her voice getting fainter and fainter with each syllable. Travis too was beginning to feel anxious and made his way to the bedroom in which Katie stood.

When he entered Katie noticed that he needed to shave, a light brown stubble was being to cross his face. Maybe he didn't need to shave, Katie decided, after all it gave him a youthful edge to go with his forever young personality. He looked out of place in their daughter's bedroom with his relaxed tee and ripped jeans among the pink and frills.

Their daughter, Ginger, had turned four just the past week and was a huge fanatic of princesses. She wore her puffy, purple princess costume everywhere they went with her silver tiara that her father may or may not have snatched from the local toy story (Katie made him pay back for that one).

The room was empty except for the two of them and Mrs. Coopers, Ginger's tired and withered teddy bear that sagged at its seams and held on by just threads.

"Yes, dear" Travis asked, wrapping his arms around his wife's body. His hands rested on her enlarged stomach. She was due to have a boy in just two months, but she looked much farther along than she was (though he would never tell her that). Her cheeks had gotten chubbier over the months and it took every ounce in his body not to poke them and tell his wife just how cute she was, after all she still carried her fiery temper from when they were teenagers at Camp Half-Blood.

Travis reminisced on the times there, feeling a pang of nostalgia. He remembered the constant bickering between him and Katie. He remembered the mischievnous of him and his brother and how they'd annoyed Chiron with all their antics. He remembered all the fun he had with his siblings and friends. A sad smile crossed his lips, he missed camp.

Luckily, him and Katie still stayed in touch with the other demigods. His brother, Connor, was the owner of a new phone company and traveled the world by himself, a lone wolf he liked to call himself. Travis and Katie even kept in touch with Percy and Annabeth and their twin daughters, Margo and Taylor. Ginger, Margo, and Taylor were all best friends and had frequent play dates.

"Travis!" Katie snapped, regaining Travis' attention and wiggled out of his grasp.

"Yes?" He tried to feign innocent, as if he hadn't zoned out, even though he knew it would never work. Katie new him too well.

"Where's Ginger?" She said placing her hands on her hips and even sterner expression on her face.

"She's in her.." Sudden realization hit Travis. Ginger was supposed to be playing with her dolls in her room. The same room that was empty except for Travis, Katie, and Mrs. Coopers.

"Yea, that's what I thought. And look!" Katie cried, exasperated and pointed to an open window.

"You don't think that..." Travis trailed off, tittering on his feet. There was no way a four-year-old could climb out a window, right?

"I wouldn't put it past her, she is your daughter after all." Katie said annoyance creeping into her voice. She blew her bangs out of her face in a huff. Thankfully the family lived in a ranch house, so Ginger shouldn't have gotten hurt.

"Well let's go find her then." Travis said already making his way towards the front door. Katie followed him, waddling more so than walking.

"I swear if she's off somewhere playing thief or getting dirty, I won't be the one facing the consequences or giving her a bath." Katie said walking out the door that Travis held open for her.

Travis laughed, but shuddered internally. Giving Ginger a bath was its own special Hell.

The pair searched their yard for their daughter with no luck. They called her name and wandered up and down the side walks.

"Where could she be?" Katie cried I defeat. Tears started flowing fast down her cheeks and Travis was quick to take her into his arms.

"Hey, hey don't cry. She gets into all sort of shenanigans all the time, I'm sure she's fine." He rubbed soothing circles into her back.

Katie sobbed harder.

"I-I just want her back. I want my baby back!" She wailed into his shirt, soaking it with salty trails.

"Katie, come on now. Just take a deep breath, we're gonna find her. Like you said, she's _my_ daughter." Travis tried to give his wife a cheeky smile for reassurance.

Katie picked her head up and nodded, wiping away the last of tears. Her eyes were slightly red, but she was able to calm her self down in a few short breaths.

"Okay, yea we'll find her." She said with a shaky smile.

"That's the spirit!" Travis said with a cheerful grin, taking Katie's plump hand in his own.

Katie shook her head.

"Please, Hera, make this next one more like me." She said placing her hand on her pregnant belly. Travis laughed, knowing Ginger would soon be found.


	12. Chapter 12

Hi! I'm so sorry, I don't even know how long it's been since I've last updated. I tried something new with this chapter by not giving a specific ship to the narrative. I hope you interpret which characters you'd like to. I will say this is a short chapter, but I do hope you enjoy! I can't promise any quicker updates, but you can always suggest things you'd like to see (certain ships, particular scenarios, etc) and I'll try to deliver what I can. Hope you're all doing well!

The small things are what get to him first. It isn't the full brutal impact that she isn't there anymore that hits him first. No, it's the small, little details that slowly build there weight on top of him, suffocating him little by little till he's totally smothered and collapsed on the ground gasping for air that just isn't available.

He keeps turning his head, looking over his shoulder and expecting her to be there. She should be there. She should have always been there. He did everything to make sure she was always there, but most times one person's everything can't challenge the universe's one thing. She has too many tricks up her sleeve.

When he goes to his locker after two weeks of missing school and trying not to collapse into a puddle of tears every time he saw something that reminded him of her (which was mostly everything) he broke a little more. He remembered how she would always be there, waiting for him, messing with his hair, and complaining he needed a hair cut, but never actually meaning it. He remembered how she giggled when he told some lame ass joke. He hated that he remembered so much. That every memory jabbed into him with intense malevolence and twisted his emotions into horrible, awful things.

When he was walking down the hall to fifth period he instinctively reached his hand out to grab hers, but all that held him back was the thin, heartless air surrounding him in nothingness. Solemnly, he dropped his hand and swung it at his side in a foreign rhythm that was far too alien for his liking.

He had asked to go home by sixth period.

School was hard, but getting home was worse. No one was home with him and the rooms felt so empty, haunted by ghosts that weren't even kind enough to make an appearance. Time seemed so still around him and despite the noise outside in the busy world, a chilling silence settled in the small apartment.

He felt blank. His routine was off balance without her. Yet, he still couldn't process the fact that she was gone. Naively, he reached for his phone and began typing a message, despite her phone being disabled over a week ago. He wrote out a simple "Hey" and waited for her to reply. He kept staring at the screen and wanted so badly to get a reply that he really thought she would.

After an hour of sitting there numbly, he turned his phone off. Why did he do that to himself? It only damaged him further.

It was eight in the night and the sun had set when his mother came home. Hearing the door open that late was an unfamiliar sound. Usually at this time he was over at her house. He never heard his mother come home. That'd be one more little thing he'd need to get used to.

All of this just piled and piled and piled and piled. It was a never ending dump.

He didn't know when he'd get used to this or even if would. He had no clue why she had to go. He just wish it hadn't been so slow. The doctors said she was getting better only a month ago... and then her illness came back full force. It only took sixteen days until she passed. He wished it took one.

It was horrible to see her decay like that. She became so fragile and weak. She became a shell of who she was. He didn't want that to be the last memory of her. She was such a strong person and that wasn't her. It was like all the life in her had been vacuumed away into an ever hungry black hole, even she acknowledged she was different. He wished fate hadn't granted her such misfortune and was absolutely furious at the unfairness of life. She deserved so much more than this. She didn't deserve to wither away and not have control of her life when she had so much planned. She had so much to live for it was like the world was left with a giant gaping hole after her death.

There would always be something unfulfilled.

On her last day she had seemed better, she wasn't as bad as she had been and even smiled for a bit. And then she was just gone, like a flash of lightning that brought light for just a moment and vanished the next, leaving the viewer awestruck and craving more.

He'd always love her and maybe that was what was so scary. He didn't know if he'd ever stop loving the girl who died. Maybe in essence he died too. Maybe the little things were larger than the big things. Maybe the little things would be his death too.


End file.
